Blues in the 21st Century – Myth, Social Expression and Transculturalism

Dates: 23-24 November 2018

We invite contributions on themes that may include (but are not limited to):

- The Blues in film and media, or social media
- Performers and performance (current or historical perspectives)
- Typologies of Blues performance (festivals, street music, busking, etc.)
- Socio-political phenomena, music of protest
- History and cultural heritage, African roots, etc.
- Impact on literature and other cultural forms
- Urban/rural musical contexts and identities
- White and black identity issues
- Forms of audience participation
- Musical travel and forms of tourism linked to the Blues
- Blues and Gender
- Blues and kindred/related styles
- Future of the Blues (e.g. Rap, etc.)
- National scenes and their differences/analogies
- Blues and Marketing (foundations, awards, challenges)

The conference will be held in Catania, at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Catania (http://www.dsps.unict.it/), from 23-24 November, 2018.

Abstracts of not more than 250 words should be sent, by 30 June 2018 to Uwe Zagratzki (uwe.zagratzki@uni-oldenburg.de) and Douglas Mark Ponton (dponton@unict.it). Please indicate your name, professional/academic affiliations, a postal address and email. Authors will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by 15 July.

Selected contributions will be included in a peer-reviewed volume for publication.